Oscars betting odds: shorts and craft deep dive

Where are the uncut gems?

As sportsbooks publish more Oscars betting markets, there are opportunities galore in the short categories. These markets remain lightly traded, under-analysed, and slow to adjust, creating a rare opportunity for bettors willing to move early.

With prices expected to tighten significantly before Oscar Sunday, the value window in shorts is open now. By contrast, most craft categories are already priced aggressively, limiting upside. One exception remains for Best Film Editing, where strong opinions lie for an upset victor.

Beyond the Academy Awards themselves, Actor Awards and international voting blocs continue to shape pricing behaviour, opening the door to selective contrarian strategies across performance categories.

Elsewhere, Tony Coca-Cola is betting on the Brits to back their own, with a number of contrarian BAFTA bets.

BAFTA, Actor Awards and Oscars Expert Betting Tips

The Professor

98th Academy Awards  - Best Documentary Short - All the Empty Rooms, Armed Only With One Camera

Medium to high conviction that these two short documentaries will announced the winner on Oscar Sunday.

Both are highly topical and well crafted, only available at Bet365

All the Empty Rooms $1.83 Bet365
Armed Only With One Camera $5.00 Bet365

98th Academy Awards  - Best Animated Short - The Girl Who Cried Pearls

Technically superior to the others in this category, Canadian filmmakers Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski have a strong chance of winning.

$2.20 Bet365

98th Academy Awards  - Best Live Action Short - Two People Exchanging Saliva, A Friend of Dorothy

Don’t always follow your heart, and don’t always bet in alignment with what you like. This is the case for A Friend of Dorothy, which is saccharine and excessive but should play positively to AMPAS believers in the power of art.

Two People Exchanging Saliva, meanwhile, is a deserved frontrunner and is one of the strongest Live Action Short entries at the Oscars for years.

Two People Exchanging Saliva $2.00 Bet365
A Friend of Dorothy $7.50 Bet365

32nd Actor Awards  - Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series - Catherine O'Hara

Due to Catherine O'Hara’s recent passing, this is not a comfortable play. The narrative should change in favour of the Canadian born actress and the opportunity to honour a career of brilliant work will be one that SAG-AFTRA will not ignore.

$17 Sportsbet

Max Renn

AACTA Award for Best Film  - Bring Her Back 

Head and shoulders the best Australian film in 2025, conviction is high for Bring Her Back to bring home the chocolates for the top prize.

$1.57 Sportsbet

98th Academy Awards - Best Film Editing - F1

Jumped into much bigger odds (11-1) when nominations dropped and betting markets published their fist draft of the full list Oscars.

Still at a decent price, and will consume more with high conviction.

$2.50 Sportsbet

98th Academy Awards - Best Original Score - One Battle After Another

SInners looks like the probable winner, however, the masterwork of English musician Jonny Greenwood is underrated. Worth a small investment for this longshot.

$13 Bet365

Tony Coca-Cola

79th British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) - Best British Film - I Swear

A play against frontrunner Hamnet, I Swear was well supported by BAFTA, with nominations for Actor, Supporting Acor, Original Screenplay, Casting and Rising Star.

$9 Bet365

79th British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) - Best Supporting Actress - Wunmi Mosaku  

Backing home grown BAFTA favour, and the momentum of Sinners cannot be denied.

$4.50 Neds

32nd Actor Awards  - Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture - Sinners

Sinners is outright favourite on Gold Derby, but second favourite at bookies. Strike.

$2.37 Sportsbet

32nd Actor Awards  - Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role - Benicio del Toro

Del Toro is the outright favourite on Gold Derby. This is a play against Jacob Elordi.

$2.88 Sportsbet

98th Academy Awards  - Best International Feature Film - It Was Just An Accident

The Palme d'Or winner surely cannot leave Oscar Sunday empty handed. Now it is time for team Neon to redeem their campaign skills and land an upset win.

$13 Neds

98th Academy Awards  - Best Original Screenplay - It Was Just An Accident

For similar reasons above.

$8 Neds

98th Academy Awards  - Best Documentary Short - All the Empty Rooms

This is the clear standout among the nominees. High conviction.

All the Empty Rooms $1.83 Bet365

98th Academy Awards - Best Film Editing - F1

Max Renn and I are aligned on this medium conviction bet.

$2.50 Sportsbet